Duties of Priests and Levites

1And YHWH said to Aaron, “You and your sons and the house of your father with you shall bear the iniquity of the sanctuary, and you and your sons with you shall bear the iniquity of your⁺ priesthood. 2And bring your brothers of the tribe of Levi, the tribe of your father, near with you, that they may be joined with you and serve you while you and your sons are with you before the Tent of the Testimony. 3And they shall attend to your needs and the needs of all the tabernacle. However, to the articles of the sanctuary and the altar they shall not come near, lest they die—both they and also you⁺. 4And they shall be joined with you and attend to the needs of the Tent of Meeting for all the work of the tabernacle; and an outsider may not come near to you⁺.

5And you⁺ shall attend to the duties of the sanctuary and the duties of the altar, that there be no more wrath on the sons of Israel. 6And I, behold, I have taken your⁺ brothers the Levites from among the sons of Israel; to you⁺ they are a gift given by YHWH to do the work of the Tent of Meeting. 7Therefore you and your sons with you shall attend to your⁺ priesthood for everything concerning the altar and behind the veil, and you⁺ shall serve. I give to you your⁺ priesthood as a service for a gift, and the outsider who comes near shall be put to death.”

Offerings for Priests and Levites

8And YHWH spoke to Aaron: “And I, behold, I have given you charge of My contributions. All the holy gifts of the sons of Israel to you I have given as a portion, and to your sons, as an ordinance forever. 9This shall be yours from the holy of holies,† from the fire: All their offerings, all grain offerings, and all sin offerings, and all guilt offerings, which they render to Me, it is holy of holies† to you and to your sons. 10In the holy of holies you shall eat it;† every male shall eat it. It shall be holy to you.

11And this is yours: The contribution of their gift, with all the wave offerings of the sons of Israel; I have given them to you and to your sons and daughters with you as an everlasting ordinance. Everyone who is clean in your house may eat it. 12All the best of the oil, and all the best of the new wine and the grain, their firstfruits that they offer to YHWH, I have given them to you. 13The firstfruits of all that is in their land, which they bring to YHWH, shall be unto you. Everyone who is clean in your house may eat it.

14Every devoted thing in Israel shall be unto you. 15Everything opening the womb of all flesh, which they bring to YHWH, whether the man or the beast, shall be yours. Nevertheless you must surely redeem the firstborn of the man, and the firstborn of the unclean animals you shall redeem. 16And their ransomed ones from a son of a month, you shall redeem according to your valuation for silver, five shekels,† according to the shekel of the sanctuary; it is twenty gerahs.†

17But the firstborn of a cow or the firstborn of a sheep or the firstborn of a goat you shall not redeem; they are holy. Their blood you shall sprinkle on the altar, and their fat you shall burn as a fire offering, for a pleasing aroma to YHWH. 18And their flesh shall be unto you, as the breast of the wave offering and the right thigh are unto you.

19All the contributions of the holy things, which the sons of Israel offer to YHWH, I have given to you and your sons and daughters with you as an everlasting statute. It is an everlasting covenant of salt before the face of YHWH with you and your seed with you.”

20And YHWH said to Aaron, “You shall not inherit in their land, and you shall not have any portion among them. I am your portion and your inheritance among the sons of Israel.

21And the sons of Levi, behold, I have given all the tithes in Israel as an inheritance, in return for the work that they perform, the service of the Tent of Meeting. 22And hereafter the sons of Israel shall not come near to the Tent of Meeting, lest they bear sin and die.

23And the Levite, he shall perform the work of the Tent of Meeting, and they shall bear their iniquity. It shall be a statute forever throughout your⁺ generations that among the sons of Israel they shall have no inheritance. 24For the tithes of the sons of Israel, which they offer up to YHWH as a contribution, I have given to the Levites as an inheritance. Upon thus I have said to them: Among the sons of Israel they shall not have an inheritance.”

25And YHWH spoke to Moses, saying, 26“And to the Levites speak and say to them, ‘When you⁺ take from the sons of Israel the tithes that I have given to you⁺ from them as your⁺ inheritance, you⁺ shall offer up from it a contribution to YHWH, a tenth of the tithe. 27And your⁺ contributions shall be reckoned to you⁺ as though it were the grain of the threshing floor, and as the fullness of the winepress. 28Thus you⁺ shall lift up—you⁺ also—a contribution to YHWH from all your⁺ tithes that you⁺ receive from the sons of Israel. And you⁺ shall give from it the contribution of YHWH to Aaron the priest. 29Of all your⁺ gifts you⁺ shall lift up every contribution of YHWH, from all its fat, its holy part from it.’

30And you shall say to them, ‘In your⁺ lifting up its fat, from it then it shall be reckoned to the Levites as the produce of the threshing floor, and as the produce of the winepress. 31And You⁺ may eat it in any place, you⁺ and your⁺ house, for it is a reward to you⁺ for your⁺ work in the Tent of Meeting. 32And you⁺ shall not bear sin because of it, when you⁺ have lifted up its fat from it, and the holy gifts of the sons of Israel you⁺ shall not defile, lest you⁺ die.’”